


Attention

by nanuk_dain



Series: Impossible Relationships [1]
Category: Generation Kill
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-19
Updated: 2011-11-19
Packaged: 2017-10-26 06:49:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/280017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanuk_dain/pseuds/nanuk_dain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doc Bryan discovers a new way to look at things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Attention

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Внимание](https://archiveofourown.org/works/327577) by [anapupa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anapupa/pseuds/anapupa)



  
[   
](http://pics.livejournal.com/nanuk_dain/pic/000be3gq)   


 

Timothy Bryan had always been a good observer, even as a child. Sometimes he wondered if that was the reason he was what others called 'cynical'. He preferred to call it 'realistic'. If you observed the world around you close enough for a long time, you saw things you wished you'd never seen. He wasn't the kind of man to turn away and forget, though, and maybe it had been the urge to help where nobody else would that had made him join the forces as a medic.

It didn't take much observance skills, though, to notice how much Ripped Fuel Corporal Ray Person was taking on a daily basis. Tim had been aware of this habit of his from the very beginning – he knew about almost all the quirks of the men, it was his job to know because it could be essential to saving their lives – but with every day that passed, it became worse. Tim watched from a distance, carefully keeping count in his head and keeping an eye on Person's insane and high-strung behaviour. He knew Person's body could take it only for so long. Shortly after the fiasco in The Town With No Name, when he observed Person show the first signs of exhaustion that even the Ripped Fuel couldn't sweep away anymore, he knew it was time to address the matter.

The opportunity came when they had set up camp for the night. Person even gave him a perfect excuse when he bitched loudly about his sore feet. Tim knew he couldn't address the subject of the Ripped Fuel with anybody around since the stuff was technically forbidden. It could cause Person a lot of trouble should any of the officers hear Tim in his function as the medic talk about it. Not that they didn't know about it – everybody did, it was one of those open secrets that the Marines had tons of. Not that the Navy was any better.

“Come with me, Person.” Tim said with his usual frown firmly in place and gestured at Person's feet. “I'll have a look.”

Person looked up in mild surprise, but it didn't take him long to find his voice and the matching grin. “You're too kind, Doc. Or do you just want my awesomeness all for yourself?”

“Cut the crap, Person, or I'll just let your feet rot and then you can crawl through the goddamn desert on your knees.” Tim replied and made sure to deepen his frown and give his voice an annoyed tone, staring at Person intently. Person seemed to get that there was something more to it than his feet, and Tim guessed it was his curiosity that made him get up in order to follow Tim.

“Boys, you'll excuse me, I have a date with the Doctor.” Person said with a grin and bowed exaggeratedly low to the other men who didn't miss out on the opportunity to give teasing catcalls. “Pity there aren't any nurses to hold my hand. Really, why aren't there any nurses when you need them? I mean nurses that look like those hotties in short skirts from my porn collection - ”

Tim mostly ignored the ensuing monologue about nurses and clichés in porn. He walked over to the supply truck where he made Person sit down on the truck bed and take off his boots. His feet weren't as bad as some others Tim had seen in the past days, but he retrieved some gauze and a soothing ointment from his pack to treat the sore flesh appropriately. Person had never once stopped talking.

“Cut down on the Ripped Fuel, Person.” Tim interrupted Person's suggestions of how to create more diversity in porn. He was applying the ointment to Person's left foot, never looking up from his task.

The rather rude interruption didn't seem to throw Person the least. He went on talking without even taking a breath, only the subject changed. “How would you even know I had any of that stuff? We're in the middle of nowhere – and in a war zone on top of that – it's not like I could get it delivered after ordering online. Not to mention that the internet connection sucks, anyway. Maybe I'm just a hyperactive person - ”

Tim interrupted him again before he could go off on another rant. “You don't shut up when you've taken Ripped Fuel.”

“It's funny you say that, because Brad told me the same thing a few days ago. Actually, it was nights and not days, but that's - ”

“ _Person._ ” Tim didn't even have to pretend to be annoyed to make his voice sound like it. “Shut up and listen. You cut down on that stuff or you're going to burn out before we've even reached Baghdad.”

Person was silent all of the sudden and looked at him, gaze firm. There was no sign of the hyperactive moron he'd behaved like only one minute ago. Instead, there was a strange intensity to him that Tim hadn't seen before.

“I'd rather harm myself with too much Ripped Fuel than let the others die because I fall asleep on the wheel. I'm the RTO _and_ the driver, Doc – if I screw up, chances are I get them all killed.” He shrugged, but his eyes belied the casualness of the gesture. “It's not like I can make up for the lack of sleep the natural way. So it's going to be Ripped Fuel for as long as it's necessary.”

Tim stared at Person, his frown deepening even more. He hadn't expected such insight from Person, hadn't expected such a sense of responsibility. It seemed out of character for him, but then Tim reminded himself that he hadn't really known Person before the invasion. He had never seen him entirely clean, without any kind of stimulant in his bloodstream, and he was well aware that substances like Ripped Fuel could have character altering effects. All of that didn't change that he knew Person was right, though. They all just had to pull through the lack of sleep, the exhaustion, the bad food, this screwed up mission, and everybody had their own ways of coping. Person's was a wall of bullshit and a lot of Ripped Fuel. Tim might not like it, even condemn the latter from a professional point of view, but he didn't see any other way.

“Try to take less of that stuff, Person, and sleep whenever you can.” Tim said after a long moment when he began to treat the right foot, going through the same procedure again. “I know that there's an additional strain on you as the driver, but it's in your own interest to keep your body from shutting down for good.”

Person was quiet for some time. “I know.”

Tim finished his treatment and watched Person lean down to put his socks back on. He looked up once he'd tied his boots and caught Tim's gaze. “Thanks, Doc.”

Tim just gave him a nod and watched him hop off the truck bed and leave. He wasn't entirely sure what Person had thanked him for, but he had the distinct feeling it wasn't just for the treatment of his sore feet.

Tim's gaze followed the silhouette retreating in the direction of the Humvee of One Alpha. He had never paid Person much attention before. He didn't have to in order to hear him, though, because Person was loud and talking almost non-stop. When living in the same tent with him, there was no way _not_ to hear him rant about the weirdest things with the strangest logic Tim had ever encountered. It wasn't something he particularly liked, so he'd never much cared for Person's company. As if to prove that first impression right, Tim heard Person's voice echo through the night when Person reached his Humvee. “Boys, your Ray-Ray is back! Did you girls miss me?”

With a shake of his head Tim pulled off the latex gloves and packed up the materials he'd used. After tonight, he was sure there was more to Person than he let on. Tim had the feeling he'd seen a side of the man that he usually didn't show to anybody. A quiet side, thoughtful and responsible, a man who put the lives and the welfare of his comrades first without ever having to think about it.

Tim sighed and shouldered his pack. Well, he was just going to have to keep an eye on Person and make sure he wouldn't overdo it. He was certain Person would take it as far as he had to, and then some, until he broke down. Someone was going to have to keep that from happening.

Or be there to pick up the pieces.


End file.
